A Root is a word or part of a word of whose origin we can give no further account; e. g., son, love, strong, grass, man, and fac in manufacture.

A Derivative word is one formed from some other; as, lover, lovable; strength, strengthen; graze, grazier.

A Prefix is a particle put before a root to vary its meaning; as, fore-tel, ex-port, un-known, hemi-sphere.

An Affix is a particle put at the end of a root to vary

its meaning; as, sing-er, drunk-ard, dar-ling, just-ice. Some affixes added to roots form nouns, others adjectives, others verbs, &c.

It will easily be seen that, with comparatively few roots, very many different words may be formed by varying the particles; thus from the root kin we get kinsman, kind, kindness, unkind, kindly, &c.; from the Latin root scrib (scrip) we get scribe, scribble, inscribe, subscription, scripture, &c. In analysing and tracing the origin of words, we should be careful to give to each part its precise meaning and use; e. g.,

Lists of prefixes, affixes, and roots are to be found in so many different kinds of school-books, that they may well be omitted here.

SYNTAX.

Syntax is that part of grammar which treats of Sentences. A Sentence is a number of words in which some statement or assertion is mide.

The structure of sentences may be learned by either of two processes, the one called Synthesis, the other Analysis. Synthesis, i. e. placing together, or the formation of sentences, is guided by certain rules of construction.

Analysis, i. e. taking to pieces, consists of methods for the breaking up of sentences into their constituent parts.

RULES OF CONSTRUCTION.

These may be comprised under two heads, viz., Concord, and Government.

Concord is the agreement of one word with another in person, number, &c.

The rules of Concord are :

(1) A verb agrees with its nominative in number and person; as, I write, he writes.

(2) The pronoun agrees with the noun for which it

stands in number and gender; as, As Tom was walking with his sister he trod upon her dress.

(3) The relative agrees with its antecedent in person, number, and gender; as, The man who did it has been caught; the dog which bit me was shot. That the adjective agrees with its substantive has only one application in English, viz., in the use of the demonstratives.

Government is the power which one word has over another in determining its case or mood.

The rules of government are :—

(1) Transitive verbs govern the objective case; as, I like

both him and his sister.

(2) Prepositions govern the objective case; as, He went with me across the fields.

(3) One verb governs another in the infinitive mood; as, He likes to have his own way, but I'll make him (to) do it.

These general rules have many modifications, which can be best treated of by taking those relating to each part of speech separately.

RULES RELATING TO THE NOUN.

1. The Nominative Case.

(a) A verb agrees with its subject or nominative in number and person.

(6) Two or more singular nouns joined by and, require the verb to be plural; as, Mary and Jane are here. (c) Two or more singular nouns joined by or or nor require the verb to be singular; as, Either Mary or Jane is here.

(d) A collective noun requires the verb to be singular or plural according as unity or plurality is implied;

as, The jury was unanimous; the jury were unable to arrive at a decision.

(e) A noun (or pronoun) followed by a participle, and standing independent of the rest of the sentence,

is said to be the nominative absolute; as, The policeman appearing, they all ran off.

This was called the dative absolute in Anglo-Saxon; in Latin it is known as the ablative absolute, in Greek as the genitive. (f) When a person or thing is spoken to, it is said to be the nominative of address; as, Tom, where are you?

This is called the vocative case in other languages.

(2) Indeterminately with words of any number, gender, or person; as, Who is it? It is I, she, or they.

(3) To express causes or operations that we are unable to state fully; as, It feels cold; Come fairies trip it on the grass.

(4) As the representative of a phrase or sentence; as, It is amusing to hear his poor attempts at wit; It is unnatural that we should make war upon each other. (b) The relative agrees with its antecedent in person, number, and gender; as, I respect the man who does his duty.

The case of the relative is decided by the verb in its own sentence; as, The boy who beat me; the boy whom the master beat.

(c) Than is followed by the objective case of the relative; as, He was a man, a better than whom never existed.

That is used and not who or which, in the following cases :-
(1) After the interrogative who; as, Who that has seen
him, &c.

(2) After the word same; as, The same horse that won the
Derby.

(3) After the superlative degree; as, The best that could be found.

(4) After mixed antecedents; as, The huntsman and hounds that passed.

RULES RELATING TO THE VERB.

(a) One verb governs another in the infinitive mood; as, I want to remain.

(b) The sign to is omitted after the mood auxiliaries, together with bid, dare, feel, hear, let, see, make, &c.; as, I made him come.

(c) Some verbs of motion form their perfect tenses with be instead of have; as, She is come; they were arrived.

(d) The infinitive, imperative, and participle are sometimes used absolutely; as, Several, say half-a-dozen, set upon me. To speak candidly, he is dishonest.

(e) In compound sentences a proper sequence of tenses must be observed; as, He believes he can do it; he believed he could do it.

(f) The perfect participle, and not the past tense, must be used after the verbs have and be; as, It was written by me; they have broken the rule.

RULES RELATING TO THE ADJECTIVE. (a) The adjective generally comes before the noun it qualifies, but when more than one is used, or when the adjective is itself qualified, it usually follows the noun; as, An oval table; a request unreasonable, insulting, and unjust; a woman vain of her beauty.

(b) The comparative degree should be used in comparing two objects; as, Who is the taller, John or William? (c) Double comparatives and superlatives should be avoided.

These are, however, sometimes used with great effect, especially in poetry, in order to intensify the expression; e. g., I am less than the least of the apostles; This was the most unkindest cut of all; The Most Highest. (d) The article* must be repeated when different objects are meant; as, A black and a white man tried to stop me.

Adjectives are used in many different ways, e. g.,

(1) Qualifying nouns ; as, Dirty hands.

(2) Predicatively of nouns; as, Your hands are dirty.

(3) Factitively of nouns; as, Wash your face clean.

(4) As nouns; as, The righteous are bold as a lion; the sweet and the bitter of life.

(5) As adverbs; as, We'll teach you to drink deep.

* The word the, when used with comparatives, is not the definite article, but the old ablative of that by that: e. g., The longer you delay the worse it will become by that longer you delay by that worse it will become. tanto.

quanto

Compare the Latin construction quo-eo,